Nacala Corridor wagon lease signed

Northern Mozambique railway concessionaire Corredor De Desenvolvimento Do Norte has signed a five-year agreement to lease 100 grain wagons from GPR Leasing Africa for use between Bakhresa Malawi Ltd’s grain terminal at the Port of Nacala and a milling and packing plant in Malawi.

The 1 067 mm gauge hopper wagons are being produced by Galison Manufacturing at Welkom in South Africa, with deliveries scheduled to start this month and run to the end of the year.

‘The new wagons are built using the latest design and technology, which means they are lighter and will be more efficient and productive’, said CDN Operations Director André Soares. ‘We will increase payloads by about 4 to 5 tonnes per wagon, enjoy fuel efficiencies and lower our operating costs while driving up revenue. The leasing agreement means the wagons are not on our balance sheet and we haven’t had to spend any capital. This in turn improves our cash-flow and allows us to optimise our funds and concentrate on our core activities.’

GPR Leasing Africa Commercial Executive Willem Goosen said the deal was the ‘first innovative wagon lease in Africa’ to be signed by the joint venture of Grindrod Freight Services and Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund, adding that it is is now ‘exploring further opportunities’ to supply CDN with locomotives and wagons. ‘This is an African success story that we have the ability to replicate almost anywhere on the continent’, said Goosen. ‘GPR Leasing has built insurance into the lease rates of the wagons, which again enables CDN to focus on their core business and increase the profitability of their operations.’